I relish the teaching/guiding process.
I’ve always been a teacher at heart, though my understanding of what that means has certainly changed. At one time I thought good teaching meant passing along information. My job was making sure my students learned lots of the right stuff. Teach the material and give a test to make sure they “learned” it. Simple.
Eventually I figured out that information, by itself, isn’t worth much. Learn it, forget it, whatever. You and I both know we retain information when it’s important in a context that matters. It’s really about the context, the process. Lots harder to test, though.
For a long time I thought teaching meant guiding students through the right process, a carefully constructed instructional sequence designed to help them create their own understanding. Sounds great. I’m the expert. I know what you need to understand, right?
Now I believe the best teacher suggests a path and offers to journey with the students. The teacher might ask questions, but mostly she listens and guides discussions. She may suggest where to look, but never what to see. The truly confident teacher doesn’t need the students to validate her wisdom or ability. She doesn’t need them to learn a predetermined lesson.
For the great teacher, the lesson plan is the student.
Jesus taught people, not ideas and facts. He didn’t set out to create a bulletproof theology. He walked and talked and shared life with twelve friends for three years. He didn’t give a final exam before He died because He knew they wouldn’t have it all figured out. He expected them to continue the discussion, to keep sharing stories and life with each other.
At the FREEDOM TOUR we ride bikes and raise funds for kids rescued from human trafficking, and those matter. Wouldn’t be much of a bike tour without the bike riding. But those aren’t what make it worth doing.
Any community, bike tour or something else, works best when people share their lives and their stories, when they walk (or ride) and talk and journey together. It works when they listen, when discussions are about where to look and what each person sees in the context of his unique experience.
I’m excited about the FREEDOM TOUR teams coming together for the summer. Still time to jump in before the April 25 deadline.
FRONT RANGE FREEDOM TOUR (June 16 – 25)
COLORADO MOUNTAIN FREEDOM TOUR (July 27 – August 1)
ONE DAY PROLOGUE (June 10)
We’ll have fun. We’ll make lifelong friends. We’ll discover, somehow, that we’re together on a journey of hope.
We would love to have you join us. We promise there won’t be a test!